


the wheels on the bus go round and round

by peraltiagoisland



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 04:24:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9367817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peraltiagoisland/pseuds/peraltiagoisland
Summary: Every day for the past three years, Amy takes the same bus (where she sees only the same six people from time to time, seven if she's counting the bus captain) to and from work in her job as a high school history teacher that she hates. She regrets the day she left the academy whenever things get too overwhelming, and even when things are perfectly fine, but just feel too predictable and boring. Enter: Jake Peralta, who makes every bus ride feel like a rollercoaster. Because it always ends too quickly and she never wants it to stop. Also, she feels incredibly giddy the whole time.





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is based entirely on the Commute AU photoset made by @startofamoment which you can find here: http://startofamoment.tumblr.com/post/155165702071/b99-commute-au-in-which-jake-is-the-cute-guy-on
> 
> it's also a surprise for @startofthemoment so if you're reading this... surprise lol

**Day 1**

"Good morning, Captain Holt." Amy greets as she gets up the bus.

"Good morning to you as well, Santiago. You seem tired- is everything alright?"

Captain Raymond Holt is a retired police captain and now, bus driver. Amy found out about his amazing career one Monday morning two years ago when Holt wore his NYPD windbreaker instead of his usual gray sweater, which she was told got damaged in the wash due to its delicate fabric. She spent the entire bus ride to work that day asking about his job as a cop, learning how he worked his way up to becoming a police captain, amidst all the discrimination he faced. Amy this began to greatly admire and respect Holt for his work in the police force after that. His fight to the top against racism and homophobia was certainly a feat. And of course, he made Amy regret not going through with her dream of becoming a cop. Because she had been too scared to take the leap, she stuck with what she deemed as a safe choice, and because of that Amy has spent three years boarding the same bus to her job as a history teacher in a public high school. She's had her moments as a teacher of course, but when things at work get too overwhelming, boring, and frankly- repetitive, she likes to let herself think of what could have been.

Besides retired police captain turned bus captain Raymond Holt, Amy generally sees a combination of the same six people every morning, and sometimes depending on what time she gets home, she sees those same six people at different times again. It's quite a strange phenomenon to see the same people all the time on the bus, but Amy does live in a rather quiet neighborhood with a slow-paced lifestyle, so she's gotten used to it.

Terry Jeffords is always standing up in the bus even though 90% of the seats are empty. To him, there's always an opportunity to exercise and he takes it upon himself to seize every said opportunity. Thus it's not exactly surprising to Amy when she finds out Terry's a personal trainer at a top notch gym. Despite his terrifying and towering physique however, Terry's proven to be the ultimate softie and a fantastic husband and father to his two children. Or was it three now? Terry took the bus because his wife used the car in the mornings to send their girls to school, and Terry had to be at work early. But the real reason is that Terry owns an SUV because of his wife and he doesn't trust those things so he refuses to drive the SUV to work and opts to take the bus instead.

Gina Linetti and Rosa Diaz are both dancers that are always seated next to each other on the bus. At least that's what Amy thinks, because she's never really spoken to either of the girls. From what Amy has gathered through eavesdropping since she's too terrified of the girls to talk to them, Gina and Rosa belong to the same dance troupe. Rosa doesn't seem to be as passionate about dance as Gina is, despite having more official dance training. Rosa's apparently specialized in classical dance (until she got kicked out of dance school for beating up ballerinas), and even gymnastics. But if one were to look at Rosa, they'd never suspect she was involved in such a graceful form of the Arts. She's dressed in all black constantly, and Amy saw her sharpening a knife once (which didn't seem to make Gina at all uncomfortable since she kept talking to Rosa as usual, and that freaked Amy out so she vowed never to talk to them out of fear of being murdered). Gina's a lot more showy regarding her love for dance, doing random hand movements once in a while that Amy spots from the corner of her eye. Gina also often makes weirdly sarcastic and scathing remarks about people in her life which always makes Rosa laugh. Amy's pretty sure the only reason why tough-as-nails Rosa Diaz stays in a dance troupe called Floorgasm is because of a certain Gina Linetti. Amy's also pretty sure that they're in love with each other- whether they're dating or not is another question, but frankly Amy thinks that the two behave like a married couple. Amy would've been really happy and congratulatory about how those two scary ladies found each other in this messed up world if she weren't quite so terrified of them.

Charles Boyle, on the other hand, is the complete opposite of terrifying. He's the puppy-equivalent of a man and oh so very friendly. He works as a chef specializing in exotic foods that only the daring and strong-stomached should attempt to consume. He takes the bus every morning to some strange market that Amy's never heard of. Sadly, because Charles doesn't have that great of a word filter for appropriateness, Amy now knows he occasionally shops for animal genitalia there.

Also there's these two old guys, Hitchcock and Scully. Amy never talks to them, ever. She tries her best not to at all times.

So those were the six people that Amy saw on an almost daily basis during her commute to and from work.

Aside from Captain Holt, of course.

"I am exhausted. The past few days have been so hectic at school. Everything's just a blur at this point." She tells him.

Holt nods politely and Amy takes this as a rather touching show of concern. She heads to the back of the bus, so ready to settle in her favorite seat by the window, and hopefully fall asleep for the next 33 minutes of her commute (47 if there's traffic) as the world goes past her eyes at hyper speed, filtered by smudged glass.

Because she's exhausted as hell, Amy doesn't realize that someone's sitting in her seat until she stops right next to it. Amy's confused, because no one's sat at her seat in years.

And that's when she realizes she's never seen this guy before.

The previously blurry world becomes rather clear all of a sudden. It's not that this guy made Amy see the light, she didn't fall in love at first sight with him or anything.

She was just so shocked that someone new was on the bus and that of all seats he chose to sit, he sat in her favorite one.

But she had to admit, the new guy on the bus was rather handsome. And kind of cute too.

He was wearing a plaid shirt, but on top of that he was wearing a hoodie, but then on top of that he had on a leather jacket. It was a good look on the guy, and Amy realizes she's probably been standing there blatantly staring at him for too long now, because all of a sudden he turns to look at her and flashes her a smile. And then he has some other reaction, that Amy would usually recognize as attraction in her experience, but she doesn't want to get her hopes up too high.

"Are you okay? You've just been standing there. Didn't your parents tell you it's rude to stare at strangers?" He says this all lightheartedly of course, so Amy knows he doesn't really mean any of it.

But it's still weird for her because she got caught staring at him. So she begins to explain herself.

"I'm sorry! I'm really tired because work has just been crazy- and. It's a little stupid but you're sitting in my favorite seat."

He raises his eyebrows. "You have a favorite seat on the bus?"

"Yeah- like I said it was stupid, I'll just go sit somewhere else, bye!"

She tries to make a run for it but he stops her. And also there's not really much space on the bus for her to run away from him to. And Amy knows that it's been a rule since she was young that one should never run on the bus- something three of her brothers had to learn the hard way.

"Wait! Come back- please. You can have the seat."

Amy turns around. She's really embarrassed, and also new guy has the most adorable smile and she's plenty sure looking at him and making any sort of eye contact will make her even more anxious than she already is.

"I- it's okay really, you don't have to. You sat there first, and I don't even really like that seat that much."

He laughs, and Amy can't believe it's possible, but his laugh is somehow more charming than his smile and she hates herself so much right now.

"You said it was your favorite seat. And I'd be perfectly happy to sit in the seat next to it while you tell me why you like this seat so much. And also why you have a favorite seat. Don't get me wrong, it's cute- I've just never met someone with a favorite seat on the bus before."

Amy blushes. Is he flirting with her? Amy purses her lip and nods.

"Okay."

He moves aside and lets Amy into the window seat that she so loves, and as promised, he sits in the one right next to it.

"Okay, before we dig deep into the backstory between you and this seat, I'd like to know your name if you don't mind. Just so I can come up with a couple name for you and this seat. I'm Jake Peralta, by the way."

Amy's face feels very warm. "Amy Santiago. Nice to meet you, Jake."

She hesitantly shakes his outstretched hand, which he seems oddly impressed by.

"Wow, your handshake is firm," he remarks.

Amy grins proudly. "I took a seminar."

"Where?!" He chuckles. "Also, is Seat-iago an okay couple name? It's the first draft so if you have any criticism now would be a good time to spit it out."

Amy laughs so hard at the couple name that she's leaning over, hiding her face in her hands.

"What? Is it that bad?"

She shakes her head, trying her best to stop herself from laughing. "No, it's perfect. I love it."

He grins, and Amy forgets to look away. Her heart feels like it's flying looking at him smile.

"Okay- so why do you love this chair so darn much?"

She tells him every little reason. Firstly, this seat is on the left side of the bus. And for this bus the best scenery's on the left. You can see the trees, pretty rows of houses in the distance, and when you look a bit higher there's the sky. And at the right times of the day it's absolutely gorgeous. Brilliant hues of orange, purple, pink, and yellow find some way to interact beautifully that changes everyday. Every time you look up at the sky, it has a new picture to show you. The right side of the bus just has buildings upon buildings. The reason why Amy's seat is the best in particular is because it's closer to the back, and she can see so much scenery all at once, as compared to if she sits somewhere closer up front.

"Also, this seat is always dry. And that just makes me feel safe." When she finishes she looks at Jake. He's been staring at her the whole time and looks dazed somewhat. Amy feels shy and looks down again. "I'm sorry, I must've been rambling-"

"No, no you weren't." He protests immediately. "I was just blown away for a second there because that's the most beautiful reason to have a favorite seat on the bus. Maybe that's why I was drawn to that seat too. I was looking out the window before I saw you."

"Sorry. I distracted you from something gorgeous." Amy jokes, trying to giggle and hoping he laughs along.

"Actually, seeing you was an improvement." He says, and Amy's heart nearly stops.

"That's really nice of you." She bites her lip, and she's pretty sure he's flirting with her now. But then her mother and father's warnings of stranger-danger pop up and she's too wary to reciprocate, no matter how cute Jake looks. For all she knows, he's a serial killer- that tracks down lonely women, charms them, and then when he's all alone with them he ends up slitting her throat.

"You're welcome I guess, but I didn't say that to be nice. I said it 'cause it's true."

If he's a serial killer, he's a really charming one.

Amy doesn't know what to say, and Jake honestly looks a little embarrassed with himself.

"Anyway- I've never seen you on this bus before, Jake. I've taken this bus for years and there's only six people I know that take the bus at this time."

Jake chuckles. "Car broke down. It's in the repair shop so I'll probably be here for a week."

Amy smiles. She's happy that this isn't the last she'll see of Jake Peralta, for some reason.

"Where are you getting down?" She asks.

"Police station. I'm a detective at the Nine-Nine. So don't worry, I'll be out of your hair soon."

Amy's eyes widen with interest. He was a cop? That just made her like him even more. And he probably wasn't a serial killer if he was honest about being a police officer.

"You're a detective? That's so cool. I've always wanted to be a cop, but. I was too scared I'd fail. So I decided to play it safe and now I've been teaching history at Brooklyn High for... three years now?"

"You're a teacher? That's cool too."

Amy shakes her head. "It's really not. It's so repetitive and I'm sick of it."

"Well if you ever decide you want a change of scenery- the academy's training program's only six months long. And when you're out I could give you a good recommendation."

Amy blushes, for what seems like the millionth time. "That actually sounds amazing."

They keep talking, Jake sharing some of his cop stories and Amy trying her best to meet him halfway with crazy stuff kids at her school have done. When Jake gets down the bus, he seems almost reluctant, and Amy doesn't want him to leave either.

The minutes passed by like a flash while she sat next to Jake, but after he leaves each one feels like an eternity.

Even staring out the window doesn't help.

 

* * *

 

After a long day at school, Amy makes her way to the bus stop when she hears a vaguely familiar voice.

"Hey! Stop running!"

And then she recognizes the voice and sees him. Jake's racing down the pavement, in hot pursuit of this apparent criminal who's holding onto a bag of... drugs? Amy can't tell.

He then proceeds to toss the bag aside and by sheer dumb luck Amy catches it.

And that's when Jake pounces on the guy, motioning to handcuff him.

Amy has to admit, it's kind of hot.

"You are under arrest. Anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you do not have one..."

Amy watches with a slight smile etched on her face as Jake continues to recite the Miranda rights. When he's done, he turns around and smiles at Amy.

"Hey Amy!"

She's surprised, frankly.

"You saw me?"

He grabs the perp by his arms and stands up. "Yeah of course. Almost lost my focus. Work just ended?"

Amy nods. "Yeah. I've gotta say, seeing you randomly arresting someone after a long day of dealing with loud kids and annoying coworkers feels rather refreshing."

Jake gives her a wide smile. "Well would you like to come over to the precinct with me to put this perp away? It's really refreshing there too."

Amy's eyes widen in surprise. "Really? I can go?"

Jake nods. "Yeah, of course. Also you kind of have to come with me because you're now a suspect in a high-profile drug case."

Amy looks down, realizing she's still holding the bag of drugs. She looks horrified. "Wait- no! I swear this isn't mine he threw it at-" Jake breaks down laughing. "Oh my god you're just messing with me."

She laughs along with him.

"I can't believe you nearly bought that!"

Amy shrugs. "It's been a really, _really_ long day."

"But you should still come with me. You're technically a witness to this guy being in possession of a huge bag of cocaine and attempting to throw it away- and he could totally be linked to a high-profile drug case, so. I'll definitely need your statement."

Amy fills up with excitement. She can't believe this. "Really? I get to ride in the back of a cop car?"

"Jake! Did you get the guy?"

Amy hears another strangely familiar voice. She almost squeaks when she sees Rosa Diaz. From the bus. She had no idea she was a cop. From what she'd gathered after eavesdropping on Gina and Rosa's conversations, they were both dancers in the same dance troupe, and that was it. She never heard anything regarding Rosa being a cop. Although she has to admit, she's not surprised.

Jake looks over his shoulder and throws Rosa a thumbs up sign. "Yeah! Just talking to Amy here!"

Rosa walks over immediately. "What? Jake why are you flirting with someone on the job?"

Jake looks instantly victimized. "Whaaaaaaaat? I'm not flirting- I met Amy here on the bus this morning. And she's now a key witness to this high-profile drug case."

Rosa rolls her eyes. "This was a basic drug dealer arre-"

"HIGH-PROFILE DRUG CASE. That we need Amy's statement for."

"Um, I just wanna say that I'll be perfectly fine giving my statement for any criminal, be it a high-profile one or a... low-profile one." Amy clears her throat nervously. "Also hey- don't I see you on the bus a lot?"

"See? Amy's willing to give us her statement. So we should take it!"

Rosa ignores Jake, and proceeds to look Amy up and down. "Oh yeah. You're the one who wears pantsuits a lot."

Amy smiles. She's glad Rosa recognizes her.

"Also wait- you take the bus? But you have that motorcycle you're always riding! Never mind, follow-up questions later. Point is- since you know Amy it's okay if we take her to the station in a police car, right? I mean, her statement would just really make this arrest airtight."

Rosa sighs. She looks at Jake intently, as if considering how badly he needs this through his face.

"Fine."

 

* * *

 

The ride to the precinct's fun, although Amy has to spend the entire journey sat next to a very angry looking drug dealer. She was so afraid he'd spit on her.

"Welcome to the Nine-Nine!" Jake announces, and Rosa snorts as she walks past him with the drug dealer, to process him on her own because Jake's too busy playing tour guide.

Amy's all smiles as she takes the place in. "This place is amazing. I wish I worked here."

Jake laughs. "You and me both." Amy doesn't even have time to consider what that means before Jake moves on. "Anyway- wanna see my desk? I could show you some case files."

Amy nods readily and Jake gets this incredible smile on his face. They're both very excited for no good reason at all and Jake leads Amy to his desk.

"Your desk is... really messy." She says with a slight shake of her head, which is combined with some nervous laughter.

Jake shrugs. "I don't mind. I'm too busy solving crimes to arrange my desk anyway."

Amy examines what looks like a half-eaten bagel. "Y'know, I'd really love to clean and organize your desk for you. It's honestly one of my favorite things to do."

Jake chuckles. "That's the nerdiest thing I've heard all day." He shakes his head, and Amy can't help but feel a little embarrassed. Maybe offering to clean his desk was too much.

"I'm sorry." She says. "It's your desk."

"I didn't say you couldn't do it. Because honestly? The fact that you want to is really cute."

Amy's eyes light up as she turns to him. She tries to ignore how happy being called 'cute' by Jake makes her. Although he was referring to her love for organization. But it still makes her happy. "Really? You'll let me clean your desk?"

Jake nods. "Yeah! Just- please don't judge me. I've probably got food around here somewhere. And by 'somewhere' I mean 'everywhere'. So good luck!"

Amy shakes her head. "No judgement here."

"Okay. Because I've gotta help Rosa process this perp or she'll kill me."

 

* * *

 

About half an hour later, Jake emerges from the interrogation room. Upon searching the drug dealer, they find a new drug on him that's been hitting the streets and end up questioning the guy to get the name of his supplier. Jake really wants the name of the supplier because it could seriously lead to a big case- but he keeps thinking about Amy and despite how much he loves his job he wants to get back to her. It's a relief Rosa takes charge while he mostly stands back and because Rosa is terrifying they get the name of the supplier in little to no time at all.

The way he pushes open the door so quickly with so much excitement when they're done makes Rosa laugh.

"Man, you really like this girl don't you?" Rosa remarks as she follows him out of the room.

Jake pauses and scratches his head rather sheepishly. "It's that obvious, huh?"

Rosa snorts. "Obvious? Jake, every word you say to her is obvious. You're just lucky she doesn't seem to have caught on."

Jake shrugs. "Yeah, guess I am lucky."

It's a half-hearted reply, because he badly wants to see Amy.

"Jake! I think some crazy lady broke into the precinct and is now organizing your desk. You need security to escort her out the building?"

Amy looks up when she hears this familiar voice and- oh my god there's Gina Linetti. Both Gina and Rosa, whom she thought were dancers, work in a police precinct together. A lot of new revelations about the people on her bus today.

"What? No, Gina. I let her clean my desk. Don't let the security take her away!" Amy turns around and smiles as she sees Jake. She can't wait to show him the work she's done on his desk. She's got his stuff arranged and stacked neatly, everything with a certain order now.

Gina looks up from her phone. "What? You _let_ someone clean your desk? Someone call an exorcist, Jake's possessed!"

Rosa walks up with a somewhat knowing smile to Gina, bending down and whispering in her ear. Gina laughs at Rosa's words, and they end up cracking up together.

"No way! For realsies?"

Rosa nods. "Yeah. Dude's in deep."

Amy turns to look at Jake. "What are they talking about?"

Jake looks nervous, but shakes his head. "I wouldn't worry about it. Anyway- show me what you've done with my desk! It looks amazing."

Amy gets excited and goes into complete nerd-mode in a split second and Jake's just smiling at her as she explains how she's arranged all his stationary, knick-knacks, and even his case files. Everything has an order to it which will make things easier to find.

"What do you think?" She asks, an expectant smile etched on her face because she really did work hard.

"I love it." He says, making her heave a sigh of relief. "I also can't guarantee I can maintain this level of tidiness for more than a week, but I'll enjoy the extra desk space you somehow managed to create while it lasts."

Amy chuckles. "I guess I'll just have to come back next week and re-organize it for you again."

Jake's smile reaches all the way to the corners of his face. "You're always welcome to."

Amy looks down shyly and focuses on the adjoining desk opposite Jake's. It's empty, which is weird because all the other tables in the precinct are filled.

"Does anyone use this table?" Amy asks. "I mean, it's just so... empty."

Jake shrugs. "I don't think so. I've never seen anyone sit there. Maybe it's just waiting for the right detective. I mean, whoever sits there is probably going to be my partner. And that's not a job for just anyone. They need to be able to keep up with _this_ much awesome." He says, gesturing to himself.

Amy ends up spending way too much time at the precinct, and when Jake and her leave to take the bus home, they completely forget that Jake was supposed to take down Amy's statement- y'know, the whole reason why Amy was there in the first place.

 

* * *

**  
Day 2**

"Hey Amy! I saved you a seat!"

Amy hears Jake's voice calling out to her the moment she steps on the bus the next morning. He's sitting in the seat next to her favorite one, waving and pointing at the empty seat.

It's incredibly adorable to watch, and Amy can't help but smile. It feels like she hasn't stopped smiling since she met Jake.

"Good morning to you too, Jake. Why are you saving me a seat?"

"Um, because it's your favorite one and I had to make sure no one would steal it?"

Amy chuckles as she moves to the seat, the back of her thighs brushing against Jake's knees as she files past him. She tries to ignore the tingly feeling it gives her. And how warm Jake feels to brush against.

"Actually, you're the only person who's ever tried to steal my seat from me. I mean- Rosa and Gina always sit all the way at the back, and Cha-"

Jake turns to look at Amy with such shock it almost scares her.

"Wait- did you just say Rosa and Gina? As in, the Rosa and Gina from my precinct?"

Amy nods. "Yeah. It's a small world isn't it? They take the bus together almost every day. They have been for about... a year? I think? But I haven't seen them for the past two days."

Jake looks even more shocked now. "A _year_? Are you kidding me? A year- I mean I knew Rosa wasn't telling me something important when you revealed that she took the same bus as you yesterday but- they've been taking the bus together for a _year_? How did I not know about this?"

Amy shrugs. "Maybe it just didn't come up in conversation?"

Jake shakes his head. "You don't understand. Rosa has a motorbike that we all know- wait, _think_ we know she rides to and from work everyday. And Gina's always telling me she walks to work! That lazy _liar_!"

Amy smiles weakly. "I mean, it happens. We think we know someone but then they turn out to be someone else completely different. Like- until yesterday? I thought Rosa and Gina were just dancers in the same dance troupe-"

" _Rosa's_ _in_ _Gina's_ _dance_ _troupe_?" Jake grabs the sides of his head. "I can't believe I don't know any of this! Why are they hiding so many things from me?" He turns to Amy, as if suddenly realizing he's overreacting in front of someone he's not well-enough acquainted with to actually have a meltdown in front of.

"Sorry it's just- Gina was my childhood best friend and Rosa was my best friend in the academy. I thought we were all best friends and I can't believe they've just been lying to me for so long! Why would they do that? Do they secretly hate me and spend these bus rides talking behind my back?"

All of a sudden, Jake's freak out is completely understood by Amy, even though he's misunderstanding some intentions on Gina and Rosa's part.

"Wait- Jake. I have to stop you right there. Gina and Rosa aren't taking the bus together to escape you- it's something else entirely different."

He looks up at her. "What is it?"

"I mean... I honestly think your best friends are doing it."

Jake looks even more shocked but in a different way now. "What?!"

"I mean maybe not- but they just seem really... couple-y? Y'know, they're always laughing together back there, they seem a little touchy sometimes, and I'm pretty sure the only reason why Rosa's in Gina's dance troupe is because of Gina. Basically- I don't think Gina and Rosa ride the bus to escape from you, I think they do it so that they can be together."

Jake smiles lightly. "That's... that's beautiful. You know what? If my best friends are really dating each other, I couldn't be happier. They'll finally be able to invest more time in helping me with my love life."

Amy straight up guffaws when Jake says this.

"You are unbelievable."

"And you love it."

Amy shakes her head. "Anyway, if you want I can tell you some of the stuff I've overheard or seen Gina and Rosa do over the years?" She offers.

Jake's face lights up with glee. "Are you serious? Yes! Tell me everything. Also how do you know so much about them? Have you ever talked to Gina or Rosa?"

Amy shakes her head sheepishly. "No. They seemed really scary. I'm just really good at eavesdropping."

Jake laughs. "Completely understandable. Although now I don't know whether to call you a stalker or a romantic."

Jake leaves the bus later vowing to confront his friends about their maybe secret relationship they've been hiding from him for the longest time. He also vows to tease them for some sappy moments between them that Amy told him about. It's the sweetest revenge he can get from not knowing about their little bus rides together.

 

* * *

**  
Day 3**

"So how'd it go?" Amy asks, as Jake settles into the seat next to her.

"I asked Gina- hey are you and Rosa dating by any chance? And all she said was 'soon'."

Amy cracks up. She wishes she had been there.

 

* * *

**  
Day 4**

"Wait- you were _in_ the academy?"

Jake looks absolutely shocked, but in a good way because it's incredibly obvious he's having trouble hiding his excitement.

"For a month. Then I had to leave because my mom got sick."

Jake's face looks more sullen and worried after Amy says that.

"But she's fine now, so don't worry."

Jake nods his head, heaving a sigh of relief and smiles.

"So why didn't you go back to the academy?"

Amy shrugs. "I don't know. I think a part of me was scared I couldn't do it. I already had a degree in art history, and I did world history for my minor, so I decided to stop messing around and get a job. Now I've been a teacher for three years and I honestly hate it."

"Y'know, I think you would've been an awesome cop. No, scratch that. I think you can be an awesome cop. It's still not too late to go back to the academy."

Amy looks at Jake almost hopefully. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

 

* * *

"Hey, do you have work tomorrow?" Jake asks that same evening.

Amy shakes her head. "No, why?"

"I wanna take you somewhere." He realizes how this sounds and he gets almost panicky. "Don't worry- it's related to what we talked about this morning."

"I'm not worried," she says. "And I can't wait."

 

* * *

**  
Day 5**

"So where are we going?" Amy asks. The day before they had agreed to take the bus at their usual timings, but instead of going to work Jake would be taking her... wherever he was taking her.

"You'll see." He says with a smirk.

Jake takes her to a shooting range.

"No way!" Amy's jaw drops open when she walks into the building, and she hears Jake chuckle to himself.

"You excited?" Jake asks. "I thought we could come here, and assuming you haven't already learned how to shoot from the academy, I thought I could teach you."

Amy looks ecstatic. "I haven't learned." She admits. "This is so great!"

They pay to spend a few hours in the shooting range, collecting all the shooting equipment.

"Okay. Do you want me to give you a demonstration or do you want to jump right into it and start shooting yourself?"

Amy's eyes light up. "Obviously I want a demonstration. How can I take lessons from you without knowing how good of a shot you are?"

Jake grins, picking up the gun somewhat determinedly to prove himself to Amy. "Well, when it comes to shooting patterns, I like to go PB & J- Penis-Brain-Jaw."

Amy's about to laugh at the very lame joke of a shooting pattern- but then Jake takes three shots in a row and they're all perfectly on target and she gasps instead.

"Holy crap. You're really good."

Jake turns to look at Amy and places the gun down, unable to hide how pleased he is.

"Am I a good enough shot to be your teacher now?"

"Definitely."

Jake lets Amy take over the shooting after that. She shoots over, and over again, but doesn't seem satisfied for some reason.

"Hey, that was a good shot. Why do you look so upset?" Jake asks as he takes the gun from Amy and sets it down.

"It's not a perfect shot. I wanted to make perfect shots, like you." Amy laments as she stretches.

Jake's eyes seem to trail down but then he catches himself. "You can't expect to get a perfect shot your first time shooting." He says to reassure her.

She stops stretching and looks at him purposefully. "Show me."

"What?"

"Show me how to aim the gun like you do. Like, literally hold my hands where they need to be positioned so I know how I'm supposed to do it."

Jake gulps. "Really? You're okay with that?"

Amy nods. "Yeah? Why wouldn't I be? Unless... you're not okay with it?"

"Oh no- I'm perfectly fine." He walks closer to Amy, who picks the gun up and holds it with both hands.

Jake stops beside Amy and adjusts Amy's aim slightly.

"That should do it."

Amy takes the shot and it's even more off target than when she was aiming the gun on her own.

"Jake, you weren't even looking at the target. Stand behind me and help."

Obediently, Jake goes behind her and his sturdy hands wrap around hers. Amy feels Jake's arms against her own and he feels very warm. His chest is much too close to her back and Amy realizes why Jake may have been somewhat hesitant to help her this way.

He's basically giving her a back hug, and the problem isn't that Amy's feeling uncomfortable (which she is, don't get her wrong, because she can't breathe right now and it's Jake's fault), but rather how much she kind of likes being in this position.

They stand there, sort of tense and silent for a bit, before Jake moves Amy's hands.

"Take the shot," he says, and Amy downright shivers when she feels his hot breath against her neck.

She shoots, and the bullet lands dead center.

But neither of them are attempting to move away.

"What the hell are you doing here, Jake?"

At the sound of Rosa's familiar voice, Jake and Amy break apart and are three feet away from each other in a split second.

"Shooting. Guns." Jake responds quickly and awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"We're on a date." Gina says, with a smile that seems almost proud.

"Who goes to a gun range for a date?" Amy asks in confusion.

Rosa and Gina crack up. "I could ask you the same thing." Gina says.

Jake and Amy gulp, and start protesting immediately afterwards.

"This isn't a date!"

"We're just here as friends!"

Gina and Rosa just crack up again.

"Man, they're just as oblivious!" Gina says. "Don't let this one go Jake- she's just as dense as you love life wise despite being a huge nerd."

Amy nearly rolls her eyes.

"They're both nerds." Rosa points out.

"You're right. Even better then, they're perfect for each other."

Jake sighs somewhat frustratedly. "Guys, all I'm doing is teaching Amy how to shoot a gun. She used to be in the academy and she's thinking of signing up again."

Amy nods along, agreeing with Jake wholeheartedly. It wasn't that she didn't like Jake and had no interest in him romantically- she was just too afraid to admit it out loud and although she was tempted to ask him out it seemed too risky. Although they had sat next to each other and chatted incessantly for a very significant number of bus rides and enjoyed themselves thoroughly, Jake was still a guy that Amy hadn't even known for a week yet.

"Gina's here to learn how to shoot too. She wants a gun license." Rosa simply says.

"I'm gonna become an expert at shooting, just like I am with everything else." Gina declares.

And then Jake's hit with an amazing idea.

"Guys! We should totally have a shooting contest!"

They're all intrigued.

"What? A gunfight to the death?" Gina asks.

"No-" Jake interjects. "Because murder's a crime. And also I don't wanna die." He clears his throat. "Rosa will train Gina, and I'll continue training Amy. Then we'll have them compete over who does better in target practice."

"Okay." Agrees Rosa. "What do we get if we win?"

"Bragging rights?" Jake says on a whim.

"Losing team treats winning team to dinner." Amy suggests.

"Perfect." Says Gina.

"We're in." Rosa adds on before they leave to start shooting.

"Loser buys winner dinner? Ooh, that rhymed."

Amy shrugs. "I'm sorry- I know we didn't make any plans to have dinner together, but- I'm kinda hungry and I didn't have lunch yet. And if we win... we get a free dinner."

Jake smiles. "Oh yeah, it's totally cool don't worry about it. I'm stoked to have dinner with you-" He catches himself. "And Gina and Rosa."

She nods along. "Yeah. So let's kick their asses at this."

Jake chuckles. "I like your style."

 

* * *

 

For the match, Gina and Amy are both required to start at the same time, and they have to shoot the target in these areas: head, both shoulders, chest, crotch, both hands-

"And also PB & J. That's my specialty." Jake argues.

"Fine. Then we're also gonna do double nipple shots. That's _my_ specialty." Rosa retorts.

At the end of the discussion over the match plan, they end up with too many shooting patterns to even remember. But the key thing is that Gina and Amy have got to shoot fast and accurate.

"On your mark, get set, shoot!"

Jake and Rosa start their stopwatches and Gina and Amy go off at the targets. They keep rapidly firing, pumped up to move on to the next new target.

 

* * *

 

"Fine, you're right. Amy was a better shot." Rosa concedes.

"What?"

"Yes!" Jake and Amy cheer, high-fiving and giggling in the glory of their victory.

"Rosie, sweetie- why the hell did you let them win?" Gina says in disbelief.

"I'm sorry. Amy's aim was better than yours. I couldn't do anything to fight it."

Gina looks disappointed, and all Rosa can do is offer her a pat on the shoulder.

"Don't worry, dinner's on me." Rosa tells her.

Gina smiles at Rosa.

And Jake and Amy are still cheering.

 

* * *

 

"Y'know, you actually completely forgot to take Amy's statement the other day. About that drug dealer." Rosa says as she shoves a fry in her mouth. She's smiling with just a little bit of playfulness. They're all eating at a fast-food outlet, because no way in hell is Rosa splurging when they didn't set a designated restaurant to dine at.

Jake's eyes widen mid-bite of his burger.

"Oh yeah, that." He turns to Amy. "It completely slipped my mind, so sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Amy says. "So what- do I have to go back to the station?"

She's just that bit excited, and she fails at hiding it because her eyes are twinkling and Jake can't help but chuckle as he shakes his head.

"Not really. Although you're always welcome to visit. Just give me your number and we can do it over the phone during lunch tomorrow or something."

Gina and Rosa crack up.

"Smooth, Jake."

"Who knew you had such game?"

Jake squints his eyes at his two best friends but they don't care in the slightest.

"It's for work, okay? Get your minds out of the gutter." He says, but it's still frustrating because now Gina and Rosa are sipping milkshakes with their eyebrows raised patronizingly and he knows they are not convinced in the least.

At least Amy is, or so he thinks. "Here, give me your phone, I'll put my number in."

Amy genuinely wants Jake's number, so she's willing to ignore all of Gina and Rosa's insinuations and play the fool. If Jake's trying to get her number for non-work reasons, she's all for it.

Amy texts herself from Jake's phone before handing it back to him.

"Now we know each other's numbers." She says, smiling at Jake and as he looks back at her it's as if he's forgotten that Gina and Rosa are making fun of him and he's just ridiculously happy to have Amy's number too.

 

* * *

**  
Day 6**

"I quit my job!" Amy announces as she approaches Jake on the bus in he evening. "Effective immediately. I'm never going back there again."

His eyes, previously sad, now light up when he hears her voice and sees her walking towards him.

"Really? That's great! Where were you this morning- I was so worried I nearly jumpstarted a state-wide police investigation."

Amy laughs, and sits down next to Jake. "You've got to be kidding. Also I was busy- signing up for the academy."

Jake gasps and his eyes widen in shock. "No way! For realsies?"

Amy nods. "Yeah! I can't wait- and I'm just in time too because the newest batch of recruits start in two days. So tomorrow my best friend Kylie's taking me out to celebrate." She falters slightly. "So you won't see me in the morning either because I'm not going back to work..."

"Oh," Jake tries to laugh but his mouth doesn't seem to work. "That kinda sucks."

"But you might see me after work!" She says as cheerfully as she can.

"That works!" Jake says as he points his hand at Amy.

Then they continue chatting about random things that make them laugh, exchanging stories and just... being together.

 

* * *

  
**Day 7**

As promised, Amy walks up the bus in the evening when Jake's on his way home.

"Hey Jake!"

Jake seems to freeze when he sees Amy, who looks completely different from usual. In the time that Jake knew Amy, she sported ponytails, pantsuits, and at most a simple blouse and jeans (like when they went to the shooting range, and even then Jake was already having a hard time concentrating because the jeans really brought out Amy's... hips... amongst other things).

But right now, Amy's wearing a gorgeous dress that's a deep crimson red, and Jake almost has a nosebleed.

"Hey Amy," he chokes, almost weakly. "You look nice."

Amy beams as she moves into her favorite seat, but Jake has to deal with her being too close for comfort when she moves past him. He's overcome with heat as she brushes past, feeling relieved when she finally sits down. She couldn't have spent more than a few seconds getting to her seat but to Jake it feels like a painful eternity.

"You really think it looks nice?" Amy asks as she settles into her seat, fiddling with the edges of her dress.

"I mean, it doesn't have a big puffy bow at the back-" Jake quips jokingly as he attempts to smile. "But yeah, you look great."

Amy laughs. "Should I go change then? I can't believe I forgot to wear a big puffy bow for you." Jake had mentioned how he had went crazy as a young pre-teen ogling girls in dresses with big puffy bows at the back during countless Bat Mitzvahs, a few bus rides back. She laughed at the ridiculousness of it when she first heard, and well, it was still funny now. She had not changed her mind on that.

"Yeah! How dare you!" Jake says exaggeratedly and they dissolve into fits of giggles. "But seriously, where are you and Kylie headed? You look like you're headed someplace more than just a night out with a friend."

"We're getting dinner, then depending on where Kylie takes me we'll probably end up hitting up a few bars and clubs. Kylie insisted that I wear this dress because it's apparently a 'dude magnet'."

Jake's eyes trail over Amy once more. "Well, she's not wrong." He says.

Amy doesn't stop blushing until she gets off the bus.

 

* * *

 

Jake's phone starts buzzing really loudly just as he's about to shut his eyes. He groans, really hoping it's not work. Why can't crime just wait for him to go to sleep?

But the moment he sees Amy's name flashing across the screen, he's no longer cross and rather wide awake instead. Of course, he picks up the phone, excitement tickling its way up his spine.

"Hey, Amy. What's up?" He says, as casually as can be to try and play it cool.

"JAKE ITS YOU!!" Amy screams on the other line. Jake has to physically hold the phone away from his ear, wincing at the sudden shriek of her voice. Amy's clearly at the club, and Jake can hear faint sounds of pop music playing in the background.

He hears Amy whoop in response to something someone yells in the background, and Jake can't help but laugh to himself.

"Are you drunk?" He asks, because she so obviously is.

"Yeah!" Amy agrees very loudly and passionately. "I just did two shots!" She pauses, and Jake raises his eyebrows as he hears two sounds of something slamming on something come one after the other. "Make that four!"

Jake laughs again. "Why are you calling me?" He doesn't want to stop talking to her of course, but then again, he's curious.

"Because Kylie told me I needed to talk to some cute guys? So I thought- hmm, who do I know that's really cute? Then I realized! Jake Peralta! Super cute guy. And that's why I'm calling you."

Jake nearly goes into shock when Amy says this. Amy Santiago thinks he's cute? It's the best thing he's heard all day, but now he's too tongue-tied to say anything back. He's lucky Amy's too drunk to care for quick, dynamic responses. The fact that she's too drunk is why she's saying all this in the first place. Jake doesn't know whether he loves or hates it. On one hand, he wants to hear more, but on the other hand? Hearing more could give him a heart attack and he'd need to call himself an ambulance. Hospitals were so expensive-

"Jake? Are you there? I miss you, talk to me please."

Jake clears his throat, which feels strangely constricted. "Yeah, Amy, I'm here. I think when Kylie told you to talk to cute guys she meant the ones at the club. Not me."

Of course, Jake doesn't want Amy to talk to any of the guys in the club. The thought of it fills him with a certain jealousy, if he's being honest with himself. But even if Amy's drunk and possibly won't remember a thing he says, he's still gotta play it cool.

"Oh yeah, you're right!" She says. There's a certain pause as she scans the room. "But there's no one cute here. No one here as cute as you, at least."

Jake gulps as he rolls over in his bed. This is unbelievable, he can't handle this. "Well, I doubt anyone in that club's as cute as you either." Or as pretty. Or as gorgeous. And as she's probably still wearing that dress, no one even _nearly_ as sexy, definitely.

"Ooh ooh! Someone in here's wearing plaid!" Amy interjects suddenly. It fills Jake with a sense of pride to see Amy identifying people wearing plaid as people that reminded her of him. He worked hard on his ensemble, taking five minutes every morning to debate which shirt would be most suitable for that day. Although in the end he'd scrap the inner debate and just pick a shirt on a whim. "Aw, never mind that guy. His arms don't look as good as yours."

Jake's very flattered, and his heart is soaring right now, yet he can't help but laugh. "His arms don't look as good as mine?"

"Yeah! They're way too skinny."

"Are you trying to say I have fat arms?!" He says accusatorially, as a joke.

Amy seems to panic and he has to refrain from cracking up. "No no no! Your arms aren't fat, they're strong. Not that there's anything wrong with fat arms, but your arms feel so solid, Jake. I like your arms."

Jake bites his lips as he considers this, unable to help checking out his arms and flexing those guns for himself to look at. "You're welcome to feel my arms whenever you like, Ames."

Amy giggles.

"What?"

"You called me Ames."

"Oh yeah I did." Jake realizes, and he lets out a gentle chuckle. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah," She says. "I really like it."

"Well, I really like you- so I guess we're even on the liking stuff end." He says, stupidly like a fool. Jake really hopes Amy's one of those drunks that forget everything.

"Amy? What- who are you talking to?"

Jake hears a confused and concerned voice in the background, whom he presumes belongs to Kylie.

"You told me to talk to cute guys, remember?" Amy says almost smugly, like she's proud of herself for finding some kind of loophole to Kylie's instructions.

"Oh no- that's Jake isn't it? Amy calling him drunk is such a bad idea! Give me the phone!"

"No!" Amy protests.

"No, don't- I wanna keep talking to her!" Jake pleads into the phone, but of course since Kylie doesn't think that Jake's able to hear her she must not have been able to hear Jake either. He hears the line cut off and tosses his phone away to the other side of the bed.

He groans for an unhealthily long time, rummages through the box of case files he brings back from the station and forgets to return. He reads case files until he can't keep his eyes open anymore but even then he sleeps a dissatisfied slumber.

 

* * *

  
**Day 8**

Amy wakes up that next morning with a pounding headache, no doubt part of that terrible hangover she always gets whenever she does way too many shots in a row. She struggles to climb out of bed with the sun threatening to burn her eyes that are already dry beyond belief- but she remembers that it's her first day at the academy and that being absent on the first day would definitely make for a terrible impression.

And then she thinks of Jake waiting on the bus for her, and getting worried if she doesn't show up like she'd promised she'd do- and him launching a state-wide police investigation to find her, only to find out that she's lazing around at home nursing a hangover. This brings a smile to her face and also pushes her to get washed up and ready to face her first day at the academy.

"Amy! Over here!" Jake chuckles as he sees Amy enter the bus, happy as a lark. Her face is a huge contrast to his however, although she too is happy to see him. She winces whenever she hears too much noise and whenever the sun shines into her eyes the wrong way.

"Sorry, hangover. Everything hurts." She groans in apology as she sidles past Jake into her seat, leaning her head back against the top of the chair.

Jake can only laugh in amusement at Amy's pain, which is a rather cute display of emotions. "Yeah, I know."

Amy cracks an eye open at that. "You know?"

"I knew you'd get a hangover."

"How'd you know that?"

Jake's caught off-guard for a while, but he recovers. "I mean- you went out with a friend and implied there'd be a lot of hitting up clubs and bars taking place yesterday. Ergo, you have a hangover today."

"Well, you should've stopped me Jake. I'm disappointed in you for allowing me to make bad choices."

"I'm constantly disappointing everyone around me, Amy. You'll have to get used to me not stopping you from making bad choices. In fact, half of the time I'm the friend _offering_ you those bad choices."

They crack up laughing together, and strangely Amy's head doesn't feel like it's about to explode as much as before.

"Anyhoo, I have a gift for you." Jake announces as he begins opening his briefcase.

Amy's immediately intrigued and leans forward to look into his bag, and they're a little too close but neither of them notices this. "A present? But it's not my birthday yet, Jake."

Jake smirks, pulling his gift for Amy out of his bag, happy that it looks somewhat neat since he took special care to make sure nothing bad happened to it. "I got you a gift to celebrate your first day back at the academy. I hope you like it."

It turns out to be a navy blue NYPD sweatshirt and Amy doesn't just like it, she loves it. "Oh my god Jake- this is amazing! I love it, thank you so much!"

Caught up in her excitement, Amy impulsively reaches forth and hugs Jake, not realizing how inappropriate she could have made things- after all, she didn't even know if Jake was one for hugs, and they'd barely known each other for a week. Sure, they'd had their moments, but Amy still felt like she had no right to hug Jake.

To her relief however, Jake hugs Amy right back and even begins to gently stroke her back.

"You're going to do great." He tells her, and Amy feels herself just melting into Jake's warm and safe body that's somehow managing to take all of her pain and suffering away with just a single embrace and Amy weirdly wants to stay in his arms until... forever ends.

They hug for a little too long, and it gets a little quieter when they pull apart. But there's nothing other than tender looks and quiet smiles on their faces throughout the entire bus ride.

 

* * *

 

Amy's exhausted by the time they're released for break. The day's not over yet, but at least Amy gets a rest from the continuous bombardment of commands, drills- 20 sit-ups! 15 push-ups! Now give me another 10 because you were all complaining!

And so on.

Amy's day socially speaking hasn't been all that great either. A few people were put off by her enthusiasm and weird need to follow the rules where she wanted to report at the correct times and accept their superiors' commands without any question (which wore off around her fifth hundredth sit-up). Even when she tried to make eye contact and roll her eyes to someone about the excessive drills they had to do, some people ignored her and some tried to be polite and smile back, but it all seemed so forced and her heart was in shambles at the end of all the trying.

And the people that didn't ignore her? They were sleazy guys that she knew only wanted to get into her pants by excessively flirting with her. Which only added to her discomfort.

"Well, I can't exactly blame them. You're the prettiest girl here." Kylie tells her, when her break starts and her best friend's there waiting with sandwiches and a smile that comforts her with the knowledge that she's not alone. She's so glad Kylie's a freelance writer and can set her own schedule. "Actually, scratch that. I'm definitely blaming them for being gross. But you're still the prettiest girl here."

Amy rolls her eyes. Kylie has always had this way of making things better.

Kind of like-

"Yeah, I totally agree. Those dudes are gross."

Amy and Kylie turn around in surprise.

"Jake? What are you doing here?" Amy asks. She's happy, don't get her wrong, seeing how widely she's smiling. But Jake never said he was going to show up. And that he knew what time her break was.

"I'm here to make sure drills haven't murdered you yet! And to keep you company- just in case you haven't become the most popular girl in class yet."

Amy rolls her eyes affectionately.

"But it seems like someone beat me to the chase," Jake continues, turning to look at Kylie with a smile. "Hey, you must be... Kylie?"

Kylie shakes Jake's outstretched hand. "The one and only."

Jake grabs a chair and sits facing Amy. "So how's Amy holding up here?"

"Well, for starters- I'm not the most popular girl in class. Quite the opposite actually." Amy sighs, and Jake looks genuinely surprised.

"But she is working her way up and we expect her to win the prize for 'Girl Who's Getting Hit On The Most By Trashy Guys Who Don't Deserve Her In The Least' any day now." Kylie quips with a smile.

Jake grimaces. "Ugh, that's a terrible prize. Although I do agree. None of the trashy guys here even deserve a second look from you."

Amy shrugs. "I'll get used to it."

"I could talk to them for you if you want." Jake offers.

"Half of the guys that have hit on me this past day are over six feet tall." Amy informs.

Jake sits his ass right back down. "Okay, in that case I will... report them to the commanding officers here so they can protect you instead of me?"

Amy and Kylie crack up.

"Kylie's going to get in a good word with those six feet tall guys. I'm surprised she's still here talking to me instead of beating them up, frankly." Amy says with an appreciative smile.

"Trying to get rid of me?" Kylie teases, and they all laugh.

"I must say, Kylie- you're quite the protective one over Amy here." Jake says, with some slight caution.

Kylie raises her eyebrow. "Your point?"

"I mean- you kind of ended a phone call between me and Amy here last night. Bummed me out."

Amy looked pretty panicky now. Because she knew her drunk dialing anyone was always bad news.

"I called you last night?" She confirms.

"Yeah. And it was such an intellectual conversation about cheeses too! Think about what you _ruined_ , Kylie."

Kylie and Amy start cracking up again.

"I called you- to have an intellectual conversation about cheese?!"

"I was learning so much!"

"Jake!"

All three of them turn around and there's Gina and Rosa walking towards them. Jake groans.

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me- we have a criminal to catch." Rosa snaps as she approaches him.

Jake groans as he gets up from his seat.

"Who?! I'm supposed to be having my lunch break right now."

"You think crime waits for anyone?" Gina retorts as she takes a sip of her milkshake. Which she somehow has for some reason.

Rosa smiles tenderly at Gina. "Nice. Anyway- it's Geller. Word on the street says he's still in town. We gotta go get him now."

"Okay fine but- what is Gina doing here? She shouldn't be with us if we're going to arrest a dangerous criminal."

"We're partners in everything we do, Jake." Gina says with a roll of her eyes.

"I'm dropping her back off at the station before we get Geller." Rosa says almost simultaneously, causing Gina to turn to her with a look of betrayal. "Let's go."

Jake turns around to look at Amy, somewhat longingly. "Hey, I'll be right back."

Amy shrugs. "Yeah, don't worry about it."

"Hurry up- we took your car!" Gina calls out, and Jake nearly freezes.

"Um- my cop car from work? That seems likely, yeah! Because my actual car is still in the garage getting fixed." He says loudly, as if for Amy's benefit.

Kylie turns to Amy when the three leave.

"Oh sweetie, please tell me you're locking that guy down."

"Jake?" Amy gulps. "Why?"

"Guy's so far gone for you. He's a total keeper. I completely approve of him. If you wanna get drunk and call him again- I'm not stopping you."

 

* * *

**  
Day 9**

After she's released for the day from the academy, Amy gives Jake a call.

"Amy? What up girl? I mean- hey." Jake chuckles nervously as he picks up the phone.

Amy can only laugh. "Hey to you too. Um, Jake. Are you still at work? Because I was kinda wondering if you were free to... take my witness statement? You know- the thing we keep forgetting."

Jake's silent for a while, then he realizes what Amy's talking about. "Oh yeah! That. Yeah, you could totally come down now. And actually, that became super important today, since we caught the supplier of the dealer you saw that started distributing this new line of drugs called 'Minty Fresh'. It's greenish-blue and tastes like mint, which isn't exactly a mystery. Sounds pretty harmless but makes people do crazy scary stuff."

"Wasn't my witness statement already important when you first caught that dealer?" Amy teases.

"Oh yeah- it was super important before, but now it's super _duper_ important."

Amy agrees to drop by the station, since that was her intention when calling Jake in the first place. When she enters Jake's floor, she sees him hard at work, doing paperwork of some sort.

"Ooh, wow. Someone's busy huh? Also you kept your desk pretty neat! I'm proud." Amy says, and upon seeing her Jake breaks out into this brilliant smile that makes her heart feel like it's taken some of that 'Minty Fresh' drug Jake was talking about over the phone.

"Yeah! Didn't mess it up in a day like I thought I would've-"

"He cleaned it up before you got here!" Gina tattles from her desk, not even looking up from her phone. Jake scowls at her, but she doesn't see this because Gina really doesn't look up from her phone at all during the entire exchange.

"Ignore her," Jake says, and he's lucky because Amy's still smiling. Which turns into a light-hearted chortle.

"It's okay. I think it's sweet either way. Whether you kept your desk neat the whole time or you cleaned it up before I got here."

Eventually, they're settled down and Jake takes down Amy's statement. It's a fun time because Amy comes up with fake statements that absolutely crack Jake up.

"And then he put on his jet pack and tried to escape through the sky, but of course he dropped his drugs in my hands, and when he came back down to get it, you tackled him to the ground."

Jake's laughing so hard he can barely breathe. "He had a jet pack?!"

"Latest model." She says, and then Jake absolutely loses it again.

"It was the latest model? Oh- I can't..." He tries desperately to catch his breath. "How are you coming up with this stuff?"

Amy shrugs. "I must be hanging around you too much."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"We'll see." She says.

Finally, after ages of joking around, Jake gets the proper statement he needs from Amy and he packs up to go home.

"Hey, Amy..."

"Yeah?" Amy says as she turns to look at Jake, who seems to be a nervous wreck.

"I was just wondering... you know, um. Since we've been hanging out so much, and well we're hanging out right now, so- I..." He pauses. "I guess what I'm saying is: do you want to go on-"

"Bomb!" Someone yells. "There's a bomb here! Everyone get out."

And because of that Jake becomes consumed with making sure Amy gets out of the precinct okay, and by the time they've neutralized the bomb threat it's much too late and Jake and Amy forget all about what Jake wanted to ask.

 

* * *

**  
Day 10**

"You doing okay?" Jake asks with a concerned smile as Amy trudges her way up the bus in the evening. She's dead tired from the academy, and she barely has enough energy left to function, let alone talk to Jake.

"Today was hell." She complains as she collapses in the chair, leaning back and covering her mouth as she yawns.

Jake offers a gentle awkward pat on Amy's shoulder, which she gives him a light smile for.

"Can I just sleep now? Could you wake me when we get to my stop?"

Jake nods. "Yeah sure."

His stop is actually four stops before Amy's, but it's obvious Amy doesn't realize this due to her extremely drained state.

"Thanks." She says, and her eyes shut as she drifts off to sleep.

Five minutes later, Jake finds that Amy's head has drooped down to his shoulder.

He lets it stay.

 

* * *

  
**Day 11**

The next day, Amy's even worse.

"I shouldn't have told you to rejoin the academy." Jake says worriedly as he takes in Amy's state.

She shakes her head. "No, we get a day off tomorrow, it's fine."

When they get to Amy's stop, she refuses to wake up.

"Come on, Ames, you're home. Don't you want to sleep on a nice, comfy bed?"

Amy only groans in response and in his desperation, he carries Amy out of the bus. It's a relief almost no one takes this bus, and Gina and Rosa aren't here right now to make fun of him.

"Do you happen to know where she stays?" He asks the bus captain, who's giving him a rather calculating look. "I know it's a weird question, but she won't wake up. She just kept groaning and rolling away when I tried."

"Santiago has once tried to invite me to a... dinner party at her apartment. So I do know her address. Please ensure that she gets home safe." The bus captain says protectively. "She stays at the apartment complex with the garden gnomes out front. Fifth floor, first door on the right of the elevator."

Jake nods, exiting the bus with Amy in his arms. It looks a bit strange, like he's the lead in a movie, but Jake has no choice and he isn't about to forcefully disrupt Amy's rest that she so desperately needs.

He follows the bus captain's instructions and finds himself outside Amy's door.

And then he realizes he doesn't have Amy's keys.

"Amy?" He calls, softly but desperately. "Where are your keys?"

And then she wakes up. Which is a good yet terrible thing, good because she can unlock the door, terrible because she should've just woken up ten minutes ago when he tried to on the bus. Now she's going to think he's a creepy stalker and never talk to him again.

"Jake?" She turns her head around and realizes she's in Jake's arms. "Why are you carrying me?"

"You wouldn't wake up just now." He simply says, because it's the truth.

Jake lowers Amy down and she digs through her bag for her keys. "And you took me all the way home?" She beams. "That's... so sweet."

Jake shrugs. "I wasn't going to let you just sleep on the bus and go home myself. I made you a promise, so."

Amy looks guilty now. "I'm so sorry, Jake. I don't know why I couldn't wake up."

"They're torturing you at the academy. Don't be sorry. What are they making you do there?"

Amy looks down. "There might be... a commanding officer who's a little racist. I just know that I'm getting punished a little bit more than I should be for stuff that I might not have done."

Jake looks shocked and frankly, pissed. "What? Who?"

Amy shakes her head. "It's fine, Jake. I'll be okay. Don't worry about this."

Jake doesn't look okay in the least and he's definitely very worried, but he nods. "Rest well, Ames."

She smiles. "Good night, Jake."

 

* * *

  
**Day 12**

Jake and Amy don't see each other that day, since there's no academy training.

Jake spends the whole day dedicated to helping Amy, though. He asks around and finds out which racist, asshole of a commanding officer is putting Amy through so much hell.

His first thought is to find the address of said officer and deck him across the face, which is what Rosa and Gina also encourage him to do.

"Punch him in the fucking face." Rosa says, just as pissed as him to hear how Amy's getting treated. "Or I will."

"Believe me, I want to. So bad. But this guy isn't just being shitty to Latinas- it's... Everyone that isn't white."

Gina groans. "Why do they let such stupid people work for the academy? It grosses me out that I'm affiliated to such trash."

"Tell me about it." Rosa says.

Eventually, Jake decides to call in a few favors he has owed to him by some higher ups. It's a relief he's solved cases that even the Chief of the NYPD couldn't, because if he'd gotten the media's attention about some of the cases he's solved instead of asking for favors, he'd be the most famous detective in New York.

Which he honestly would've preferred, but he might've gotten promoted to some stupid high-ranking desk job if he solved one too many awesome cases- and he wouldn't have the power to help Amy like he was now.

Cutting to the chase, Jake got rid of the racist commanding officer that was making the lives of non-white trainees like Amy a living hell, and also ensured that all cadets were treated fairly.

 

* * *

**  
Day 13**

When Amy gets up on the bus, she sees Jake there as usual, waving to her happily. Gina and Rosa are there too, for once in the past two weeks.

"Hey, did you rest well?" Jake asks, to which Amy nods her head readily.

"Slept for most of yesterday. My body's ready for whatever's waiting for me at the academy today."

"Actually... about that- I have something I need to tell you."

Amy looks to Jake quizzically as she sits down next to him. "What is it?"

"You're not going to the academy today."

Amy's confused. "Why?"

"Okay-" Jake holds his hands up in mock surrender. "I know you said not to worry but- I couldn't help but be concerned that there was a very racist C.O. at the academy. So I called in a favor. With the Chief of Police."

Amy's jaw dropped. "The Chief of Police? No way- how'd you even get the Chief of Police to owe you a favor?"

Jake shrugs almost cockily. "Easy. Just solve a case they tried to crack for years and make it look like it was nothing. Then tell them about it so they ask you not to reveal that you, a lowly detective in the depths of Brooklyn are superior in every way to them, who has all the power in the cop world. I also have a few 'favors' owed to me from the Deputy Police Commissioner, Deputy Chief, five from Major Crimes- because they suck, and also: an FBI agent."

Amy gasped. "You cracked a case belonging to an FBI agent? How did you even get your hands on that?"

Jake waves his hand in dismissal as he tries to humbly laugh it off. "Man, that one's a long story. And one of my best, if I'm being honest. But not the point right now- basically, I used a favor the Chief of Police owes me to make sure that racist cop gets transferred far, far away from you."

Amy bites her lip. "You didn't have to do that, Jake."

"Sure I did. I hate racist people all the time and on a normal basis- but when they mess with the people I care about? They gotta go."

Amy's blushing now. "Okay. Thanks Jake- but I still don't get it. Even if that racist jackass is gone from the academy, why don't I have to go in today?"

"Because in addition to getting Racist McGee out of the academy permanently, I requested that all recruits be given an additional day off. Figured you could use the break." Jake says with a shrug. "You'll get a text about it soon. Actually, right about..." He whipped out his phone to look at the time. "Now."

Amy's phone buzzes and she takes it out to check for- yeah, Jake was right. There was the announcement flashing on the screen clear as day- there was really another extra day off.

"See, I told you."

"Why'd the message come so late?" Amy asks. "I'm already halfway through the bus journey there."

"The message is a good few hours before any training at the academy was supposed to start today." Jake says in defense. "Not their fault you like reaching super early."

Amy chuckles shyly, because the reason why she took the bus to the academy so early even though she didn't have to be there for a few hours was because she wanted to take the bus with Jake.

"It's not a crime to be punctual!" She argues playfully.

"But it should be." Jake retorts with a smile.

"Okay, so what now? Do I go home?"

Jake shrugs. "You could do that. Or- you could come with me to watch Gina and Rosa's dance troupe perform?"

Gina and Rosa, who are sitting together in the same row as Jake and Amy but on the other side of the bus, give Amy a death stare and silently nod, promising all sorts of hell if she says no.

"Of course I'll come." Amy says with a nervous smile. Even if she didn't want to go see Gina and Rosa dance (something she's secretly wanted for about a year now), she would have said yes no matter what Jake was offering because Gina and Rosa were two people she didn't want to cross.

She turns to smile at Gina and Rosa awkwardly. "It's nice to see you guys back here by the way. It's been a while."

"Yeah we stopped taking the bus for a while because Jake's car broke down and we didn't want him to know we take the bus together. But now he knows about our undying passionate love so I don't have to cling onto Rosa's waist for dear life as she zooms down the streets on her motorbike." Rosa gives Gina a look. "Not that I don't like holding onto your waist, sweetie."

"I didn't know you were scared." Rosa says in slight amusement as she grins at Gina.

"Babe, I'm terrified. But if dating you means I have to stare death in the face every other day then that's. What. I'll. Do." Gina says, moving her hands rhythmically to punctuate each word.

"You're amazing." Rosa says as she smiles tenderly at Gina.

"Duh, why else would you be dating me."

Jake turns to Amy, who's staring at Gina and Rosa too.

"Relationship goals," he whispers.

 

* * *

 

The dance performance is actually fantastic and Amy can't believe she has the good fortune of being in the audience- especially when she sees Rosa perfectly execute a backflip.

Jake makes amazed and shocked faces at her every time something cool happens dance-wise, and his faces contain such pure unadulterated glee that she can't help but laugh whenever he makes a face at her. He keeps her laughing throughout the entire performance.

Later, Gina and Rosa bring Jake and Amy to a couples dance class. They won a free lesson in a raffle that Gina entered randomly, and she claims she won because-

"The universe loves me. And why wouldn't the universe want to bless someone whose very presence puts its own to shame?"

"Are you trying to say you're better than the universe?" Amy asks skeptically.

"Of course she is." Jake says. "But we've completely ignored the more important question- why is Rosa agreeing to go to a couple's dance class? I've barely wrapped my mind around the concept that you used to be and now are a dancer at all! Do I even know you anymore?"

"I have amazing powers of persuasion." Gina simply explains.

"Also-" Rosa interjects. "Never assume that you know me."

Jake nods with a sigh. "Right. Got it." Then he turns to Gina. "But isn't this couples dance class not exactly your... style? I mean- ballroom dancing and hip hop just aren't the same thing. Plus I'm pretty sure you've dissed couple dances at least five times in the past year."

"Jake- the class is _free_. Come on! Plus, once Rosa and I master this couple dancing thing we're gonna go for all those couple dance competitions and win. And when we do we'll show those losers what _real_ dancing is at our award ceremony. Now stop complaining just because you're too much of a wuss to dance with Amy."

"You're gonna master couple dancing? It's one class!" Jake retorts. "And I'm not a wuss!"

"We're going for couples dancing competitions?" Rosa asks simultaneously, a protest on the tip of her tongue.

"Wait- I'm going for the dance class too?" Amy says simultaneously.

Gina and Rosa glare at Amy again, just like they did on the bus.

"Just kidding? Of course I'm going..." She trails off nervously.

Gina turns to Jake now. "Jake- I can't believe we've known each other for most of our lives and yet you're still oblivious to the fact that I am amazing at _everything_. One dance class is too many lessons for me to master couples dancing. I could learn this shit on my own. But then again- free. Class. Linettis don't say no to free crap _ever_."

Gina turns to Rosa now. "And yes, we are going for dance competitions so we can kick ass. And take money. Because the people that organize this lame stuff take shit seriou-"

"There's money? Dope. I'm sold."

Gina sighs, as if she had been out of breath the whole time she was talking. "Good. I knew there was a reason I'm dating you." She turns to all three of them now. "So are we all done complaining? It's time to get our couple dance on. Also we're five minutes late. How is Amy not freaking out about that?"

Amy rolls her eyes, but they all enter the dance studio without another word.

 

* * *

 

Jake's a barrel of laughs five steps into the tango.

"Okay- I know we said we weren't going to take this seriously but you're so bad at this! How are you so bad at this?"

Amy's embarrassed and now kind of a nervous wreck because she's stepped on Jake's feet a grand total of infinity times already.

"I'm sorry! Santiagos have two left feet."

"Santiagos have feet? Going by my experience these last few minutes, Santiagos have Whack-A-Mole hammers attached to the ends of their legs. And my feet are the moles."

Amy snorts at that because Jake's ridiculous but it's still funny. How he can make light of her torturing his feet with her feet is beyond her.

"Sorry for having hammer feet then."

"Apology accepted. But I'm still mad at you."

Amy looks up, looking like a kicked puppy.

"Why? You were mad?"

Jake chuckles. "I'm mad because now I have to take this seriously and properly guide you. Basically- I'm going to teach you how to dance so you don't put yourself and others in danger."

Amy's touched. "You can dance?"

"Yeah, sure. Three years of tap will do that to you. You end up learning dances naturally. It's a deep dark slippery hole I fell into."

"So you know like, all the dances?"

"You could say that."

Amy grins. "Probably shouldn't tell Gina."

Jake chuckles. "Probably."

"So are you gonna teach me?"

"I already am."

Amy notices that she hasn't stepped on Jake's feet in a while. She gasps and it makes Jake titter slightly.

"How did you do that?"

"Can't decide whether it's because I'm awesome or that I'm a genius. But basically I'm timing my steps according to yours. Which messes the whole dance up, but I've gotta start somewhere."

Amy laughs. "Is that why we keep moving backwards?"

"That's exactly why. But don't worry. Just relax and you'll be fine. Besides your complete lack of rhythm, that's your only problem."

"Is that why we're moving forward again?"

Jake nods, his lips breaking into a fond smirk. "Exactly why again. See? You're getting it!"

"I don't feel myself getting it though. I don't feel myself understanding anything better."

"Sometimes you don't need to feel like you understand something. You just... need to feel."

Amy feels like that's a pretty great analogy for her connection with Jake. He's nothing like the guys she usually likes, if she's to be frank. She doesn't understand what draws her to Jake so much, so strongly. Maybe it's how much he makes her laugh, or how she just feels like herself when she's around him. Again, Amy doesn't know how Jake does that. Makes everything feel so genuine and real, such that nothing about them feels forced at all. But Amy's just going to let herself feel, feel Jake's hand in hers, how warm and steady it is against her own, slightly trembling from time to time hand. His arm around her waist, guiding her and making her feel calm yet nervous all at the same time.

"Okay," she says. "So I don't do the dance- I let the... dance do me?"

Jake cracks up immediately. "Yeah. Let the dance 'do' you, Ames." He winks.

She's blushing pretty hard when he winks at her, and Amy really hates herself for how much of an effect Jake has on her.

"Again, how am I supposed to do that? I can't just step back and forth with you and hope I'm dancing. Or is that how dancing works? Oh god. Is it bad that I don't know how dancing works?"

"Just trust me. You're doing fine." Suddenly, Jake twirls Amy and she looks absolutely shocked when she's back in Jake's arms again. "See?"

"How did you do that?"

"Like this." Jake then twirls Amy differently and she finds herself bent over, held very tightly against Jake, who's grinning at her, his face mere inches away.

As he pulls her back up, Amy makes a mental note to Google 'Is it possible to fall in love with someone in two weeks?' when she goes home.

 

* * *

**  
Day 14**

"Hey! You look happy." Jake greets as Amy climbs up on the bus that evening.

"Things were awesome at the academy today! Everyone was so glad that racist butthead was gone- so I told some people that I knew a friend that might have something to do with it. And now everyone loves me."

"Aww! It's about time they did." Jake coos as Amy sits next to him.

"I still can't believe he's gone- thank you so much again Jake. What you did made everything better."

"Story of my life," Jake says with a shrug, but Amy knows he's kidding.

"Anyway-"

All of a sudden, Jake and Amy hear a loud bang that makes them jump in shock. The bus grinds to a halt.

"What was that?" Amy asks worriedly.

"I think the bus just broke down." Jake says as he gets up from his seat and heads to the front to ask the bus captain what's going on.

"The engine's down. As are... two of the tires. It seems that this bus was on the receiving end of a saboteur's pranks. It's unlikely to be an accident." He explains.

"So how long will it take to get fixed?" Amy asks bus Captain Holt.

"A few hours. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I suppose it's best you two find other modes of transportation home. The bus company will take a long while to get here."

"Ugh, why does this have to happen? I'm five stops away from home!" Amy groans as they walk away from the bus stop.

"Hey it's okay-" Jake assures before he gulps nervously. "Woah actually- my house is like a stop away."

Amy huffs. "Yeah, don't remind me. You're lucky and can get home in five minutes while I'll have to walk for almost an hour."

Jake chuckles. "No- you're taking this the wrong way." He scratches the back of his neck. "Actually, I got my car back. Like a week ago. I only kept taking the bus because it saves so much on gas." He pauses. "Okay, that's a lie. I kept taking the bus because I didn't want to stop seeing you. But that's... um- basically, I wanna offer you a ride home."

Amy's eyes are glazed as she looks at Jake. "Sure. Where's your car?"

Jake's car turns out to be a slightly run down mustang, but he seems to be really proud of it because he give it a gentle pat as he reaches the door.

"You love your car a lot huh?" Amy asks almost rhetorically as she gets in.

"Yeah. Bought it the first day on the job. Caught my first criminal by pinning him against this car. My heart breaks every time something bad happens to it."

He loves his car like a crazy person, yet he left it every day for a week just so he could see Amy.

"Anyway, that doesn't matter." Jake turns to look at Amy, who's just smiling tenderly at him such that it makes it hard to breathe or think of words to say. "Where do you live? I'm not a stalker- I just need you to enter your address into the GPS system. Yeah- this car has a GPS system. How dope is that?"

"Very dope." Amy reaches forward for the GPS, and keys in an address after a short pause in which she makes a decision. "Done."

Jake turns to look at the GPS system. "Wait- this is just the address of an... Italian restaurant? I've been to your house, Amy. You do not live at an Italian restaurant."

Amy laughs. "I know. I wanna go there."

Jake has a look of realization on his face. "Oh! You're hungry? Why didn't you just say so?" He makes the wrong realization. How he's supposedly an amazing detective is beyond Amy.

"No, Jake. I don't just want to go there for dinner. I want- I want to go there on a date with you."

Jake freezes. "Like... a date-date?"

"Yeah. Unless you don't want to-"

"No!" Jake protests, then he breaks into a smile. "I absolutely want to. I've wanted to ask you for a while now."

"What a coincidence," says Amy. "So have I. But that's obvious since I literally just kind of asked you out."

Jake chuckles and starts the car, cruising down the road with an unbreakable smile on his face.

He holds her hand throughout the entire drive.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you all liked this please do tell me what you think!!!


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